Singing the songs of the city

Published 4:00 am, Monday, January 30, 2012

Charlotte Shultz, who's awaiting confirmation from the Tony Bennettcamp that he'll sing "I Left My Heart" in the City Hall Rotunda on Valentine's Day, is well on her organizational way in terms of lining up locals to help celebrate the song. Among the locals pitching in to help mark its 50th anniversary in ceremonies under the dome: Students from the School of the Arts, Girls Chorus, Boys Chorus, San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus and "Beach Blanket Babylon." Shultz is also envisioning other citywide activities for the day, among them a possible kids poster challenge for Tony Bennett Day in San Francisco.

Of organizing such an event at the last minute, she said, "If you tell people in San Francisco that you want to celebrate on a Tuesday, man, they will be there on Tuesday."

P.S.: Meanwhile, the Society of California Pioneers, at the corner of Folsom and Fourth, has a new exhibition, "Singing the Golden State," about early California popular music. The show, which includes about 150 pieces of sheet music from the collection of its curator, James M. Keller, and the Frederick Sherman Collection of the Society of California Pioneers, includes a section about the state song, "I Love You, California."

Its hundreds of pieces of sheet music include such specific San Francisco selections as "An Hour at the Cliff" (1863), "The Montgomery Street March" (1868), "Hayes Valley Mazurka" (1875), and "Sutro Heights Waltzes" (1888).

The first artist in Grace Cathedral's new Artist in Residence program is playwright-performer Anna Deavere Smith. This month and next, Smith will be creating a work on the subject of grace at the cathedral, where she was confirmed as an Episcopalian when she was studying at ACT.

"My Grace" will be performed at the cathedral on Feb. 17 and 18. And Smith will participate in the Forum, a conversation series, talking with journalist Belva Davis, composer John Adams and the Rev. Jane Shaw, the dean of the cathedral.

On the day of the NFC Championship Game at Candlestick, Tom Brokaw, an avid Giants fan, was scheduled to speak at 7 p.m. at Dominican University as part of its Leadership Studies Lecture Series. Brokaw was at the 'Stick for the first half of the game, then left for Marin.

At about 6:55, the hall was full and the game had a couple of minutes left. When Brokaw asked Dominican President Mary Marcy if there was a place he could watch, she suggested her house, "so off we went," she says. "We caught the last 1:30 of regulation, but overtime, which didn't even begin until 7:10, created a dilemma."

Brokaw watched the start of overtime; the Dominican staff "tried to entertain the 600 or so assembled in Angelico Hall. ... Finally, at 7:20, Tom turned to me, smiled and said, 'You're a great hostess, but I think I owe you a speech.' " They walked over to Angelico, where Brokaw "gave a wonderful talk about the nature of democracy and the importance of civic engagement." When he was finished, he pulled out his cell and announced the score, which Marcy says is "the only time all evening he did not receive applause."

Ingrid Eggers, who produced Berlin & Beyond for 14 years, then German Gems for three years, says this year's festival, which was a few weeks ago, is her last ever. What she's learned:

"San Francisco audiences were just wonderful, with these little films that have no big stars, most of them by unknown filmmakers." Audiences knew nothing about these movies, "but they just embraced them. ... That was my most noticeable and memorable experience."

A press release touting "the gift of fitness" for Valentine's Day suggests that lovers present their lovers with prepaid personal trainers or gym memberships. Experienced boy/girlfriends know, however, that the "gift of fitness" is a euphemism for: "Hey, honey, your jeans don't fit, you've gained a few pounds. But I still love you. Happy Valentine's Day."

Wise woman A.A. suggests this would be a perfect celebration of the couple's "first and last Valentine's Day."

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